The gist of the movie is that newlyweds, played by Ben Stiller and Debra Messing, go on their honeymoon to St. Barts.   The bride (Debra Messing) is tempted by a scantily-clad, sculpted and buff man on the beach with a thick French accent played by Hank Azaria.  The couple breaks up and Ben meets Polly, played by Jennifer Aniston.  Check out this photo of Hank Azaria playing Claude.

That’s right.  If you saw the movie, you would be shocked by Hank Azaria’s bathing suit buffness in playing the role of Claude.

You know those French.  Modesty, beach and French are three words that just don’t go well together.  There were some scenes where Claude saunters down the beach in his birthday suit!

In fact, Hank was recognized as a swimsuit shocker in various celebrity publications.  It was soooo shocking, we even had to crop this photo!

So congratulations to Najaa Young for writing this fun, funny travel review of St. Barts!

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What’s different? There’s no gumbo, the streets are cleaner, and my favorite….those yards! Remember those tooty fruity frozen drinks like the Hurricane? That’s right! Those are called, “yards.”  Well, there are no yards in Charlottetown.  But with Anne of Green Gables’ chocolate shop on the corner of Victoria Row, who needs a yard, when you can have a fancy sundae?

The Irish pubs and the English charm in PEI quickly make you realize that you’re not in New Orleans. In fact, Charlottetown is sort of like a mini-London with the cooler, dank weather and corner pubs.  Charlottetown also happens to be the largest city on the island and the center of bustling nightlife.  The rest of the island, by contrast, is pretty quiet and family-oriented.

So Victoria Row….”The Bourbon Street of the North” - no yards, but plenty of pubs, food and jazz!

Watch the video to see Victoria Row on Prince Edward Island!

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Do you like this Puntarenas, Costa Rica vacation home?  Tell us what you think in the comments below.  Or, write your own review on Viscape.

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We stopped in a lobster town - Alma, New Brunswick, which is a little town on the Bay of Fundy between St. Martins-by-the-sea and Hopewell Rock.

Watch the video to see a real lobster town - Alma, New Brunswick!

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Who knew that skiing is easily accessible to all the beautiful people of La-La-Land?  I know what you’re thinking……”But Mammoth is 6 hours away.”

Well, I’ve got news for you.  There are ski mountains that are within a 2 hour drive of L.A. that offer some great skiing.  Learn from an expert and avid skiier who has tried all the local mountains.  Our very own Jay Reidy!  Go Jay!

Destination review of Los Angeles, CA:   Rating 95%

Jay Reidy

Los Angeles, CA, USA

And in the winter they get snow. Well, not in LA actually, but in the nearby mountains. About 50 miles east of the city, Mt. Baldy Ski Resort’s base sits at 6,800 feet (2073 meters) with Thunder Mountain and Chair 4 rising another 2000 (609 meters) feet above that. Baldy is actually three mountains, and has 2100 feet (640 meters) of vertical elevation. Its 26 groomed runs offer some of the steepest drops and scariest chutes in Southern California. The mountain features wide open glades, tree runs, bowls, moguls, groomed runs and cornices. Baldy has just installed an 11 million gallon reservoir, and intends to expand snow making this year to several more intermediate runs and some of black diamond steeps. In addition to skiing and boarding, Baldy offers snow play, tubing and winter hiking. If you get high enough, snow camping is available. Both group and individual ski snow board lessons are available from PSIA and USSI certified instructors. It’s 39 person ski patrol was selected the Best Small Ski Patrol in the Western United States by the National Ski Patrol even though they have relatively few accidents. The lifts, open year round for hiking, mountain biking and sight seeing, usually see deep snow between November and late March. Prices are reasonable with an adult all day ticket for $54 for the 2009-2010 season. Other deals are available including group discounts. This is the mountain to visit if you’re a good skier and want to be challenged without having to drive six or more hours to Mammoth. Unfortunately, there is very limited beginner terrain, and even that has some steeper spots.

vacation home

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If you had ever visited the Temple of Heaven in Beijing,  you may have probably been impressed by the number of of nines (and threes) used to construct one of the must-visit attractions in China.

Why is the number nine a heavenly number?  Nine is the highest single digit number. And in China, it is the Emperor’s number.   The Emperor’s role as the “Son of Heaven” in Imperial China was to act as a conduit between heaven and earth.

Watching the movie “The Last Emperor” brought to light just how holy the Emperor was regarded during the Imperial years.  The Emperor was a living God and treated as such.  Visiting the Forbidden City, where the Emperor lived in his mystical enclosure, away from the commoner, guarded by nine gates, made me realize just how shrouded in mystery the Emperor and his family lived.

Getting back to the Temple.  The Temple of Heaven consists of 3 main buildings:  The Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests (Emperor prayed for good harvests), the Imperial Vault of Heaven, and the Circular Mound Altar (good weather).

The most photographed building is the Imperial vault of Heaven as shown in the picture below.

So let’s look at the nines (and threes) at the Temple of Heaven:

-9 steps to get to the next level / 3 levels to reach the Imperial Vault of Heaven (see as pictured above)

-9 gate posts between each set of stairs (see as pictured above)

-9 plates surrounding the marmor plate in the altar

-9×9 plates on the outermost plate in the circular mound altar

-9 walls guarding the holiest man in China in the Forbidden City (where he lived)

There are actually a lot more nines that mentioned above in the Temple of Heaven, since it is afterall a very holy place, or rather the holiest place during Imperial China.

My guess is if the Emperor were alive today — that today — 9-9-9 — would be a very holy day in China where there would be a lot of praying for good harvest, good weather, and happy, smiley heavens.

Happy 9-9-9!

Have you been to the Temple of Heaven?  If so, please share your thoughts in the comments below, or write a destination review on China for a chance to win a trip and have the travel writing experience!

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Miami, FL, USA

It’s Deco, darling! Where else would they dare decorate with seafoam green? Miami’s sexy strip of art-Deco architecture almost distracts us from the surf, sand, and rock-hard bodies! South Beach and sunshine is all Miami has, right? Gasp! From SoBe to NoBe, Miami’s got….culture. In fact, Miami is servin’ up so much non UV-ray action, I totally forgot to catch skin cancer! The wide pedestrian mall of Lincoln Road offers world-class shopping and al-fresco dining, and don’t forget Little Havana! This thriving local community has the most authentic Cuban cuisine this side of Castro. Que rico! Since being turned into a boutique hotel and membership club, the former Versace Mansion is suddenly much more than a murder site. On a tour, experience the lifestyles of its rich and famous past visitors. It’s not every day you get to see the toilet where Madonna took a tinkle! The area of Downtown Miami was lost for a time, but it’s back and it’s booming! Luxury hotels are bringing tourists right back to center, along with trendy nightclubs, and an up and coming Design District. Beach Bum or Culture Vulture, Miami’s got you covered. In a sexy little swimsuit!

Reviewer - onthebrink

va

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I had thought that the book was about a fictional girl - Anne - in a fictional place called “Avonlea.” It wasn’t until I visited Prince Edward Island that I discovered that Anne of Green Gables was based on a story about a real girl - Lucy (I forget her last name) - who was adopted by a family during the turn of the century and was set in a real place, Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. Both Anne and Avonlea were made up, but the story in the book was very real.

L.M. Montgomery, the author, was a local school teacher who pitched the book to numerous publishers before she found one who would agree to publish her book idea. The book was an unusual story for back in the day: a couple are trying to adopt a child and have a strong preference for a boy. What they get instead is a red-headed little girl who has a tremendous personality. It was also one of the widely read literary works that came out of Prince Edward Island. It fueled the imaginations of Canadians who wanted to visit PEI from reading the book.

Anne of Green Gables became a roaring success -a must-read among little girls in Canada. L.M. Montgomery wrote an entire series of “Anne” books and soon became a well known and acclaimed author. She put PEI on the map as a “must-visit.” And its easy to see why.  PEI is stunningly beautiful. Its the colors of girls’ best friends - rubies, sapphires, and emeralds. Not literally, but rather these are the colors of the red soiled land, the blue ocean, and the green, green grass and crops that grow everywhere.

This is a little clip about Avonlea - the fictional town as it was described in the book. Avonlea in real life is Cavendish, Prince Edward Island. Avonlea was reconstructed out of the book so little girls (and their families) today can enjoy Anne of Green gables when they visit Prince Edward Island. You can see the little shops, school, church, and homes, where Anne grew up. The local towns people will do remakes of scenes from the book. And in case you were wondering, all little girls with red hair on Prince Edward Island are the special ones! :)

Watch the video to see Avonlea!

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That’s not why people visit Hopewell Rock though. They go to see the world’s largest tidal swings, which is what makes the Bay of Fundy so famous. These tides will swing as much as 50 feet in one day. For a brief few hours of time, you can stand on the ocean floor. Pretty cool, eh?

Hopewell Rock is the must-see tourist attraction in New Brunswick. We drove along the coastline, which was a beautiful drive to get there. Some people will stay the whole day to see low tide and high tide. And some brave ones will even take a kayak out to get a close up view of the tide and interesting landscapes. The tides come in and go out so fast, the scary thing about kayaking is getting stuck in a current going back out to sea!

Watch the video to see the ocean floor during low tide!

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Ted’s mother, Rose, visited Palm Beach with her father for the first time in 1911.  In her autobiography, she wrote, “. . . there indeed were the palms and the beaches, and balmy breezes and white clouds in limitless skies, and beautiful blue-green water just the right temperature for swimming. A couple of splendid hotels with every convenience and a dozen fine private homes in large grounds by the sea. In short, an aquamarine gem in a perfect setting.”

The Kennedys bought their vacation home in Palm Beach in 1933, well before Florida became a popular vacation destination.  The Ocean Boulevard home consisted of 11 rooms, 15 bathrooms, and it was designed by famous architect and developer Addison Mizner (whose name, by the way, appears on street names and buildings throughout Palm Beach County.)  The Palm Beach vacation home was no palace.  Rather, it was rustic and didn’t even have an air conditioning system since it was only used as a winter home.

When the Kennedys were growing up, they spent summers in Hyannis Port, and spent Easter and Christmas in Palm Beach.  The children took swimming lessons at the Bath and Tennis Club or swam in a neighbor’s heated swimming pool.

During the 1960’s, Joe Kennedy, who suffered from a stroke in 1961, used the home to rest and recuperate.  Ted and Jack used the home to recover from various injuries from war and plane accidents.

Jack and Bobby were more of their father’s sons, cold and unemotional, where Teddy was more like his mother - warm and emotional.  He spent more time with his mother than any of his siblings did, and he was closer with his mother.  Ted also liked to spend a lot of time in the bars.

In 1991, the Kennedy compound became a crime scene.  The William Kennedy Smith rape case exploded, drawing all kinds of attention to the family home.  Ted was out with his nephew partying and drinking in Palm Beach the night that his nephew William Kennedy Smith was accused of rape.  Although his nephew was acquitted, the incident was embarrassing for the family, and a big blow for Ted, as he had to testify during the rape trial.

It was no accident that the house was sold for $4.9 million in 1995, the year Rose Kennedy died.  For 60 years, the Kennedy family enjoyed their Palm Beach vacation home.  It was the end of the Kennedy era in Palm Beach.  After that, Ted continued to go to Florida, but he vacationed in Tampa.

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